Goldman Alyssa W, Cornwell Erin York, Cornwell Benjamin
Department of Sociology, Boston College.
Department of Sociology, Cornell University.
Soc Networks. 2023 May;73:114-129. doi: 10.1016/j.socnet.2023.01.003.
Increasing research highlights heterogeneity in patterns of social network change, with growing evidence that these patterns are shaped in part by social structure. The role of social and structural neighborhood conditions in the addition and loss of kin and non-kin network members, however, has not been fully considered. In this paper, we argue that the residential neighborhood context can either facilitate or prevent the turnover of core network relationships in later life - a period of the life course characterized by heightened reliance on network ties and vulnerability to neighborhood conditions. Using longitudinal data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project linked with data from the American Community Survey, we find that higher levels of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage are associated with the loss of older adults' kin and non-kin network members over time. Higher levels of perceived neighborhood social interaction, however, are associated with higher rates of adding non-kin network members and lower rates of adding kin network members over time. We suggest that neighborhood conditions, including older adults' perceptions of neighborhood social life, represent an underexplored influence on kin and non-kin social network dynamics, which could have implications for access to social resources later in the life course.
越来越多的研究凸显了社交网络变化模式的异质性，越来越多的证据表明，这些模式部分是由社会结构塑造的。然而，社会和邻里结构条件在亲属和非亲属网络成员增减方面所起的作用尚未得到充分考虑。在本文中，我们认为居住社区环境在晚年可能促进或阻碍核心网络关系的更替，晚年是人生历程中的一个阶段，其特点是对网络关系的依赖增强，且易受社区环境影响。利用来自“全国社会生活、健康与老龄化项目”的纵向数据，并结合美国社区调查的数据，我们发现，随着时间的推移，邻里集中劣势程度越高，老年人亲属和非亲属网络成员流失的可能性就越大。然而，随着时间的推移，邻里社交互动感知水平越高，增加非亲属网络成员的比例就越高，而增加亲属网络成员的比例则越低。我们认为，社区环境，包括老年人对邻里社交生活的感知，对亲属和非亲属社交网络动态的影响尚未得到充分探讨，这可能会对人生后期获得社会资源产生影响。
